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Sunday, January 22, 2017

Chloe asked me this question over dinner a few nights before
the Women’s March in Boston. There was obvious stress in her sweet, 7-year-old
face, and her tiny eyebrows were furrowed with worry. I’d been talking about
attending for weeks, but all my little girl knew was that her mom was leaving
her for the day to stand with tens of thousands of strangers on cold city
streets, and that everyone kept
telling her mom to “be careful!” while she was there.

I took a deep breath. Like all parents, I try to walk the
fine line between the freedom and the burden of the truth when I talk to my daughter.

“I just want to remind our new president that we’re here and
that he needs to listen to us,” I said. “And we’re going to remind him that he
needs not to say bad things about people who are different from him. I’m trying to stick up for us. That’s
what makes America so amazing. It’s actually our responsibility to do that! Isn’t
that cool?”

I projected confidence to Chloe, and to my friends who
confided in me that they were worried to be in such a big crowd in such heated
times. But inside, I was a bit less confident. Who
wouldn’t be just the teensiest bit worried about their safety in such a
situation?

America asks a lot of its citizens. It asks us to choose our
leaders and to hold them accountable. It asks us to live side by side with
people who are incredibly different than we are. It asks us to constantly climb. It asks us to
pledge our allegiance to “liberty and justice for all.”

I’ve had those words memorized since first grade, and have been
repeating them on command ever since. But it wasn’t until I held my hand over
my heart at the Women’s March in Boston that I really thought hard about what
those words—“With liberty and justice for all”—really mean. Who gets to be
included in that word, “All?”

The notion of “for all” has its roots in something that I haven’t
heard much of from our new president: Love, empathy, and humility. “For all”
requires us to see the humanity and inherent value in all people. “For all” is
inclusive and devoted, kind and caring.

I understand the tendency to demonize people who are
different than we are. It’s so tempting! I am guilty of it, of course. So are
you. But despite our failings, my America still always strives to be its best self. My
America still tries to live up to its promises. My America rejects its worst instincts. My America knows that humanity is
a messy, sloppy thing but that it’s always worthy of our effort and love. My
America lends a hand and opens its heart. It’s not measured by who we leave out,
or who we shut off, or who we demonize.

I shouldn’t have worried for my safety at the Women’s March in
Boston or anywhere else, either. Millions of women in every state, in countries
around the world, and on all seven continents (yes, Antarctica, too!) held peaceful,
well-organized events. Many police departments around the country, including the city of Boston's, actually thanked us and commended us on our efforts. What else would you expect from women besides maybe a
potluck afterwards?

While I was there, I felt patriotic pride surging through
me, as I sang America, the Beautiful and
Amazing Grace with thousands of other
souls, proudly waved a little flag above my head, cheered the public works guys
who happily honked their horns in solidarity as we passed, and smiled at the little
kids who were perched atop their dad’s shoulders. I was there with my friend
Kristine, who works with sexual assault victims; my sister in law Rachael, who provides
speech therapy to the elderly; with my friend Jeanne, a fellow journalist. These are my
sisters and my heroes. We chatted with strangers and shook their hands. We
hugged and cried.

This is the
America I know, this is the America
that I love. And I don’t care what other people say, even if one of those
people is the president now. Cruelty and bullying will never be right, even if
it comes from the bully pulpit.

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form
a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide
for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings
of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity…”

“O beautiful for
heroes proved, In liberating strife. Who more than self their country
loved, And mercy more than life!”

My America is great right now. No, it’s not
perfect. It never has been. But it’s always working to get better. And I
promise to help it get there.